The Yellow Wallpaper, By Charlotte Gilman

The Yellow Wallpaper, By Charlotte Gilman

Essay Preview

Charlotte Gilman’s goal in her life was to improve the human race. Being one of the most influential feminist writers in her time, Gilman strived to enlighten society of the unfair injustice that surrounded the gender roles of the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. During a time when her achievements were exceptional for women, she served as a heroine for future generations of feminists because of her unconventional approach to life that shaped Gothic Realism. In her writings, Gilman typically addressed the economic dependency of women upon men, which was included in her short story “The Yellow Wallpaper”. In “The Yellow Wallpaper”, Gilman speaks on the malpractice and the gender-biased behaviors that began to develop between the physician and the women patients. Because male doctors did not know how to understand the state of depression that women were experiencing, they advised the patient to quit anything of creative structures and focus primarily on private domestic routines instead. It is highlighted in “The Yellow Wallpaper”, the treatment in which the narrator had to undertake while being under the care of her husband 's doctor. This treatment was called the “Rest-Cure”. Gilman wrote “The Yellow Wallpaper” to criticize and warn other women about this so-called treatment to prevent them from also falling into the same state of depression and to find their own cure. Though, Gilman did not experience everything that the narrator of “The Yellow Wallpaper” withstood, it is based on her own life.
From the beginning, the reader senses that the narrator is an extremely creative and articulate woman like Charlotte Gilman. As part of her ‘cure’, her husband forbids her from partaking in anything that can increase her im...

... middle of paper ...

... comments that because of John’s unreasonable fear of the disorder, he hinders her to the point that he becomes the ‘real’ threat to Jane, herself. Though John is the ‘real’ threat, he is able to use his social, personal and medical power over her to convince her that his expertise is correct.
Charlotte Perkins Gilman makes her mark in history as one of the most important feminist writer and activist of her time. She explored new territories that nobody dared to search, while criticizing the economic dependency of women upon men in her writings. Not only did she deal with the political issues regarding women, she also speaks of humanity as a whole. Gilman strongly believed that the economic factors that are controlled by men are related to women’s stand in society. She refers to herself as a humanist instead, however, stating that she writes and speaks for everyone.

Need Writing Help?

- "The Yellow Wallpaper" by the American writer Charlotte Gilman published in 1892 displays a gothic theme of the gender divide and inequality between men and women in this time period . This short story follows the journal of a woman who is struggling with a serious mental illness , and how she is perceived and criticized by others close to her. Throughout the story we see her descend from sanity due to the lack of knowledge at the time, as well as the mistreatment of women. Gilman craftily conveys this woman 's experience in such an accurate way because she herself suffered from a similar illness and was put under the "rest cure”.... [tags: Charlotte Perkins Gilman, The Yellow Wallpaper]

- Setting is a critical part of any story, developing both the time and place in which the story takes place, as well as mood and tone of the text. This certainly takes no exception in Charlotte Gilman’s “The Yellow Wallpaper.” Not only does the setting in “The Yellow Wallpaper” achieve the above, but also it goes one level deeper by giving the reader insight into the narrator’s mindset. By utilizing the setting as described by the narrator, along with the knowledge of the narrator’s battle with hysteria, the reader can fully interpret the setting, its impact on the narrator, as well as determine Gilman’s implications throughout the story.... [tags: Charlotte Perkins Gilman, The Yellow Wallpaper]

- Author Charlotte Gilman in “The Yellow Wallpaper” gives a personal short story about mental health care during her time. This account is personal, as the character in the story has experiences close to what author Gilman had during her period of receiving the ‘resting cure’ (Gilman). While many themes are described in the short story, the theme of passive health-care is especially prominent. The story delves into particular detail with the administration and effects of the resting cure in regards to the main character’s mental state.... [tags: Charlotte Perkins Gilman, The Yellow Wallpaper]

- Charlotte Gilman’s short story “The Yellow wallpaper” is about a woman who retreats into an obsessive fantasy, due to the fact that she feels imprisoned in a marriage where she has little to no say in her own life. We learn in the beginning of the story that our character suffers from a nervous disorder, that we now know today as post-partum depression. In the search for a treatment our Narrators husband, John, prescribes “Rest Therapy”. The “Rest Therapy” that is prescribed prevents her from “working”, seeing friends, and enforces isolation.... [tags: Charlotte Perkins Gilman, The Yellow Wallpaper]

- PPPP Inequality is something that 's plagued almost every society throughout time. Whether it be one 's skin color to the paycheck a person makes, its a prominent disbalance that 's thrown off every culture. One group subjected to such torment has been females. Women were disparaged against well into the 20th century and were only seen fit for domestic functions. Charlotte Gilman 's short story, “The Yellow Wallpaper” challenges the social normalities of the early eighteenth century. While back in its time period this novel was read as a tale of horror, now being a more cultivated society, audiences can depict this short story for what Gilman truly intended.... [tags: Charlotte Perkins Gilman, The Yellow Wallpaper]

- Sometimes the only way to stay sane is to go a little crazy. Charlotte Gilman presents this ideology throughout her short story The Yellow Wallpaper. In this narrative, the ongoing struggle of a mentally insane woman, who is being medically treated by her husband, is told from her perspective. The controlling husband feels as though his way of medical treatment will eventually cure his wife’s mental state. As he becomes more adamant in his medical treatment, it is only pushing his wife further into an unstable mental mindset.... [tags: Charlotte Perkins Gilman, The Yellow Wallpaper]

- Charlotte Gilman’s goal in her life was to improve the human race. Being one of the most influential feminist writers in her time, Gilman strived to enlighten society of the unfair injustice that surrounded the gender roles of the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. During a time when her achievements were exceptional for women, she served as a heroine for future generations of feminists because of her unconventional approach to life that shaped Gothic Realism. In her writings, Gilman typically addressed the economic dependency of women upon men, which was included in her short story “The Yellow Wallpaper”.... [tags: Charlotte Perkins Gilman, The Yellow Wallpaper]

- The Way Out Discrimination is a common conception that is widely spread out due to the sad occurrence of gender segregation. Many have implemented similar frustrated feelings toward this subject in works of art and literature. Charlotte Perkins Gilman, the author behind the well-known short story The Yellow Wallpaper, faced similar problems of that of the main character in her short story. The narrator in the story finds herself in an uncomfortable state of problems. In The Yellow Wallpaper by Charlotte Perkins Gilman the narrator faces a physical conflict with her husband, and a mental conflict with The Wallpaper, but these conflicts eventually lead to a solution to the story.... [tags: Charlotte Perkins Gilman, The Yellow Wallpaper]

- This paper will look at the many symbols hidden in “The Yellow Wallpaper” by Charlotte Perkins Gilman. This is important to prove that Gilman hid many hints implying that “The Yellow Wallpaper” is not merely a gothic story but a story making a connection between sexual roles put down by men and insanity. First of all, the setting of the story is significant. The house the protagonist and John rented has barred windows, hedges, walls, and gates that lock. These all suggest the wife’s confinement to the home.... [tags: Charlotte Perkins Gilman, The Yellow Wallpaper]

- Analysis of The Yellow Wallpaper by Charlotte Gilman The "Yellow Wallpaper" by Charlotte Gilman is a great story about the repression of women in the late 1800's but is still representative of issues faced by women today. She writes from her own personal experiences and conveys a message that sometimes in a male dominated society women suffer from the relentless power that some men implement over women. The narrator is suffering from a mild depression that her physician husband has prescribed complete bed rest in order for her to recover.... [tags: The Yellow Wallpaper, Charlotte Gilman]